Rethinking Transitions: A Reflection on Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Transition Pedagogies in the Field

Abstract

The objective of this study was to document trends and identify prioritized topics and questions relating to issues of racial and cultural equity in the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Career Development and Transition (DCDT), based on publications and conference presentations. Specifically, this research synthesis explored the application of a recent conceptual model that integrates key elements of culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies (CRSPs) to examine racial and cultural equity in transition planning. Findings from this review paint a picture of equity discourses that have been marginalized in the outlets explored. Implications for the field are discussed.

Keywords

diversity and cultural issues transition area

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Achola

E. O.

(2019). Practicing what we preach: Reclaiming the promise of multicultural transition programming. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 42(3), 188–193. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165143418766498

Aronson

Laughter

(2016). The theory and practice of culturally relevant education: A synthesis of research across content areas. Review of Educational Research, 86(1), 163–206. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315582066

Aucejo

E. M.

French

Ugalde Araya

M. P.

Zafar

(2020). The impact of COVID-19 on student experiences and expectations: Evidence from a survey. Journal of Public Economics, 191, Article 104271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104271

Baker

J. N.

Lowrey

A. K.

Wennerlind

K. R.

(2018). Building an inclusive post-secondary education program for young adults with intellectual developmental disability. Physical Disabilities: Education and Related Services, 37(2), 13–33. https://doi.org/10.14434/pders.v37i2.25738

Banks

C. A. M.

Banks

J. A.

(1995). Equity pedagogy: An essential component of multicultural education. Theory Into Practice, 34(3), 152–158.

Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals . (n.d.). Aims and scope. https://journals.sagepub.com/aims-scope/CDE

Cascio

M. A.

Lee

Vaudrin

Freedman

D. A.

(2019). A team-based approach to open coding: Considerations for creating intercoder consensus. Field Methods, 31(2), 116–130. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X19838237

Case

Hemmings

(2005). Distancing strategies: White women preservice teachers and antiracist curriculum. Urban Education, 40(6), 606–626. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085905281396

Cavendish

(2017). The role of gender, race/ethnicity, and disability status on the relationship between student perceptions of school and family support and self-determination. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 40(2), 113–122. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165143416629359

10.

Choi

J. O.

(2008). Attitudes and perceptions of South Korean elementary school principals toward the inclusion of students with disabilities. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

11.

Division on Career Development and Transition (2022). The Human Rights and Diversity Committee (HRDC). https://dcdt.org/dcdt-committees/human-rights-and-diversity

12.

Division on Career Development and Transition. (2023). About DCDT. https://dcdt.org/about-dcdt

13.

Division on Career Development and Transition. (2024). Human rights and diversity committee. https://dcdt.org/dcdt-committees/human-rights-and-diversity

14.

Dorimé-Williams

(2018). Developing socially just practices and policies in assessment. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2018(177), 41–56. https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.20255

15.

Gay

(2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). Teachers College Press.

16.

Gary

K. W.

Sima

Wehman

Johnson

K. R.

(2019). Transitioning racial/ethnic minorities with intellectual and developmental disabilities: Influence of socioeconomic status on related services. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 42(3), 158–167. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165143418778556

17.

Geenen

Powers

L. E.

Lopez-Vasquez

(2001). Multicultural aspects of parent involvement in transition planning. Council for Exceptional Children, 67, 265–282. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290106700209

18.

Giroux

H. A.

(2010). Rethinking education as the practice of freedom: Paulo Freire and the promise of critical pedagogy. Policy Futures in Education, 8(6), 715–721. https://doi.org/10.2304/pfie.2010.8.6.715

19.

Glickman

(2020, May 21). How White backlash controls American progress: Backlash dynamics are one of the defining patterns of the country’s history. The Atlantic, pp. 1–13. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/white-backlash-nothing-new/611914/

20.

Gopaldas

DeRoy

(2015). An intersectional approach to diversity research. Consumption Markets and Culture, 18(4), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253866.2015.1019872

21.

Gothberg

J. E.

Greene

Kohler

P. D.

(2018). District implementation of research-based practices for transition planning with culturally and linguistically diverse youth with disabilities and their families. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 42(2), 77–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165143418762794

22.

Haines

S. J.

Francis

G. L.

Shepherd

K. G.

Ziegler

Mabika

(2017). Partnership bound: Using MAPS with transitioning students and families from all backgrounds. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 41(2), 122-126. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165143417698123

23.

Hsieh

Achola

E. O.

Navarro

Reese

Keirn

Davis

Moreno

(2021). Transforming educator practice through a culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies rubric: Co-construction, implementation, and reflection. In Cain

E. C.

Crawford

Filback

(Eds.), In cases on academic program redesign for greater racial and social justice (pp. 191–211). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-8463-7.ch009

24.

Ladson-Billings

(1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465–491. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465

25.

Ladson-Billings

(2021). I’m here for the hard re-set: Post pandemic pedagogy to preserve our culture. Equity and Excellence in Education, 54(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465

26.

Landmark

L. J.

Zhang

(2013). Compliance and practices in transition planning: A review of individualized education program documents. Remedial and Special Education, 34(2), 113–125. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932511431831

27.

Larson

Ovando

(2001). Confronting biases: The color of bureaucracy. Taylor & Francis.

28.

Madaus

Gelbar

Faggella-Luby

M. N.

Dukes

L. L.

III . (2024). Ten years after: A systematic review of the literature on postsecondary education and disability from 2013 to 2022. Frontiers in Education, 9(14), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1412903

29.

Moll

L. C.

(2019). Elaborating funds of knowledge: Community-oriented practices in international contexts. Literacy Research: Theory, Method and Practice, 68(1), 130–138. https://doi.org/10.1177/2381336919870805

30.

Mollenkopf

Walker

(2007). Quality of life in old age: International and multi-disciplinary perspectives. Springer.

31.

Newman

Wagner

Cameto

Knokey

(2009). The post-high school outcomes of youth with disabilities up to 4 years after high school: A report from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2; NCSER 2009-3017). National Center for Special Education Research.

32.

Newman

Wagner

Knokey

A.-M.

Marder

Nagle

Shaver

Wei

with Cameto

Contreras

Ferguson

Greene

Schwarting

(2011). The post-high school outcomes of young adults with disabilities up to 8 years after high school: A report from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2; NCSER 2011-3005). SRI International.

33.

Nguyen

Ferguson

G. M.

(2020). “I kind of have a goal when I do it”: The phenomenology of cultural variability in Southeast Asian American tricultural emerging adults. Emerging Adulthood, 8(5), 382–396. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696819860392

34.

Pao

(2017). Defining success in the transition to adulthood. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 26(2), 191–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2016.12.002

35.

Paris

Alim

(2018). Culturally sustaining pedagogies: Teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. Teachers College Press.

36.

Povenmire-Kirk

T. C.

Lindstrom

Bullis

(2010). De escuela a la vida adulta/from school to adult life: Transition needs for Latino youth with disabilities and their families. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 33, 41–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/0885728809359004

37.

Richards

K. A. R.

Hemphill

M. A.

(2018). A practical guide to collaborative qualitative data analysis. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 37(2), 225–231. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2017-0084

38.

Rodriguez

Cavendish

(2013). Ethnicity and gender as moderators of the relationship between perceived family environments and self-determination among students with disabilities. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 36, 152-162.

39.

Rueda

Monzo

Shapiro

Gomez

Blacher

(2005). Cultural models of transition: Latina mothers of young adults with developmental disabilities. Council for Exceptional Children, 71(4), 401–414. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290507100402

40.

Saito

(2020). Maintaining national standards while engaging culturally relevant education: A comparative analysis of citizenship education in the United States and Japan. Educational Studies in Japan, 14, 39–51. https://doi.org/10.7571/esjkyoiku.14.39

41.

Schuster

J. L.

Timmons

J. C.

Moloney

(2003). Barriers to successful transition for young adults who receive SSI and their families. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 26, 47–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/088572880302600104

42.

Schutz

M. A.

Carter

E. W.

(2022). Employment interventions for youth with disabilities: A review of transition practices and partners. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 45(3), 154–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/21651434221075810

43.

Scott

L. A.

Thoma

C. A.

(2023). Universal design for transition: The educator’s guide for equity-focused transition planning. Brookes Publishing.

44.

Scott

L. A.

Thoma

C. A.

Gokita

Bruno

Ruiz

A. B.

Brendli

Taylor

J. P.

Vitullo

(2021). I’m trying to make myself happy: Black students with intellectual and developmental disabilities and families on promoting self-determination during transition. Inclusion, 9(3), 170–188. https://doi.org/10.1352/2326-6988-9.3.170

45.

Sleeter

C. E.

(2012). Confronting the marginalization of culturally responsive pedagogy. Urban Education, 47(3), 562–584. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085911431472

46.

Smith

Doe

(2023). Equity organizational self-assessment. Equity Institute. https://www.equityinstitute.org/self-assessment

47.

Strauss

(2014, March 10). The myth of common core equity. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/03/10/the-myth-of-commoncore-equity/

48.

Trainor

A. A.

Murray

Kim

(2014). Postsecondary transition and English learners with disabilities: Data from the second National Longitudinal Transition Study (WCER working paper no. 2014-4). Wisconsin Center for Educational Research.

49.

Trainor

A. A.

Carter

E. W.

Karpur

Martin

J. E.

Mazzotti

V. L.

Morningstar

M. E.

Newman

Rojewski

J. W.

(2019). A Framework for research in transition: Identifying important areas and intersections for future study. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 43(1), 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165143419864551

50.

Trainor

A. A.

Newman

Garcia

Woodley

H. H.

Traxler

R. E.

Deschene

D. N.

(2018). Postsecondary Education-Focused Transition Planning Experiences of English Learners with Disabilities. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165143418811830

51.

University of Washington. (2024). Glossary of DEI concepts. https://environment.uw.edu/about/diversity-equity-inclusion/tools-and-additional-resources/glossary-dei-concepts/

52.

Williams

M. S.

Udoh

E. E.

(2022). Conducting an institutional diversity audit in higher education: A practitioner’s guide to systemic diversity transformation. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 59(2), 231–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/19496591.2020.1796694

53.

Yamamoto

K. K.

Black

R. S.

(2015). Standing behind and listening to native Hawaiian students in the transition process. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 38(1), 50–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165143413498412